Bob Kahle has been involved in camping ministry in one form or another for the past 50 years. And even though he’s retiring as director of camping services for Great Plains Camps at the end of the year, it doesn’t mean that involvement will end. “God’s given me peace about it,” Kahle said. “I just...
OMAHA — Physically The Tent, one of three new church starts in the Great Plains Conference, is actually a sturdy building in south Omaha, constructed as a synagogue and used by various denominations — and even for a short while as a nightclub — in its history. Metaphorically The Tent, a ...
Six clergy and two laity will help set the strategic plan for the Great Plains Conference staff operations into 2026 and beyond. Selected for the task force are: Bishop David Wilson Rev. Zach Anderson, Western Kansas District superintendent Rev. Bethann Black, Gering (Neb.) UMC Randall ...
NORFOLK, Neb. – Ten minutes into Norfolk First United Methodist Church’s “Pancakes with Santa,” a voice came bellowing into its Wesley Hall. “HO, HO, HO,” the basso voice of Santa Claus said upon his entrance, “Merry Christmas!” Preschoolers and toddlers searched quickly to see where Santa was. ...
Days after the announcement of the Jan. 20 closure of Tyson Foods’ beef plant in Lexington, the south central Nebraska city is still in shock. “This was a complete surprise to everyone in the community,” said Kurt McBride, lay leader of Lexington First United Methodist Church and chair of the Great ...
To the dozens of parishioners at Brookville United Methodist Church in central Kansas, Jaron Bell is their pastor. To a growing number of fans across the state, he’s a popular musician — both Christian and secular — and comedian. And to an ever-expanding crowd of hundreds of thousands, he’s a ...
A new strategic plan for the Great Plains Conference took its first steps thanks to the approval of $40,000 in funds Nov. 8 by the Connecting Council. It would be the first strategic plan for the conference since 2017, when a study resulted in the consolidation of the three legacy conference ...
SALINA – As soon as the prayer ended, the assembly line began. A dozen youth from Salina Trinity United Methodist Church, joined by two more generations of adult volunteers, rapidly put together meals for 400-plus of the city’s homeless Oct. 25. Chili with shredded cheese. A bag of Fritos. ...
OMAHA – The annual fall meeting of Black Methodists for Church Renewal was part celebration and part truths about where African Americans stand in the denomination today. About 30 people from the eight-state South Central Jurisdiction met Oct. 16-18 at the Cambria Hotel in Omaha. Blacks in the ...
KEARNEY — American nationalism – what it is, tracing its history and its impact and how to counter it — was the subject of this year’s Orders & Fellowship clergy gathering, Oct. 20-22. “We can’t give lip service anymore,” Rev. Micki McCorkle, Southeast Kansas District superintendent, said in a ...
In a year, United Methodists worldwide will gather in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, for the inaugural Council of Bishops Leadership Gathering. Rev. Cheryl Jefferson Bell at a Good Faith Network assembly in 2023. File photos “This gathering is about faithful leadership for such a time as this,” said...
Two clergy in the Great Plains Conference have had Advent studies recently published. Rev. Kara Eidson, pastor of McLouth-Oskaloosa UMCs in the East Central Kansas District, has published her second Advent study, “The Advent Tree: Meeting Jesus in God’s Big Story.” And Rev. Scott Chrostek, ...
LEAWOOD – More than 1,600 people, either in person at Resurrection, a United Methodist Church, or online, got a “Rise” in their mission and their ministry during the annual Leadership Institute, Oct. 1-3. “We know you can rise to be the leaders that your church in your community needs,” said Megan...
Rev. Brian Kaylor says the time is right to talk to the clergy of the Great Plains Conference regarding Christian nationalism. Listen to Rev. Brian Kaylor tell about his exploration of Christian nationalism as a Baptist pastor in an episode of the "In Layman's Terms" podcast. “It is such ...
For Rev. Dr. Ashlee Alley Crawford, it arose when she was a church intern at Winfield First United Methodist Church. “Have you considered that God might be calling you to ministry?” she was asked. For Rev. Emily Spearman Cannon, it was a series of nudges while a student at Hastings College, ...
Longtime clergy excellence team member Rev. Dr. Ashlee Alley Crawford has accepted a new position with Discipleship Ministries. Alley Crawford, who has been on the conference staff since 2014 and associate director of clergy excellence since 2023, will become the director of adult discipleship for ...
LEAWOOD – For one ministry at Resurrection, a United Methodist Church, the hands and feet of God are accompanied by paw prints and wet noses. The pet ministry at the church provides care, comfort and connection for people and their pets, according to its business card, including grief and loss ...
LINCOLN — Rev. David Livingston took on centuries of doubts about the church by lifting up the good work he’s seen in southeast Nebraska in the sermon for his installation service as district superintendent on Sept. 14. Livingston, who began as Southeast Nebraska District superintendent on July ...
TOPEKA — The current state of Hispanic ministries in the Great Plains Conference and plans for the future were the subjects of a task force gathering called by Bishop David Wilson on Sept. 11 at the conference office. Twenty pastors and laity, either Hispanic/Latino themselves or those who serve ...
SALINA – Started in 2022 with the backing of the Great Plains Conference and the city’s United Methodist Churches, Salina Grace community resource center provides the unhoused in the central Kansas city with services they wouldn’t find anywhere else. “We decided we needed to have a day shelter ...
GERING, Neb. — The congregation of Gering United Methodist Church sang the same hymn two weeks in a row. On Aug. 24, it was sung at the building that had been the congregation’s home since 1955. On Aug. 31, it was sung at its new home, a space shared with Rejoice Lutheran Church. No. 558 in the...
ROELAND PARK, Kan. — It meets on Wednesday nights, not Sunday mornings. The worship music includes songs written by queer folk icon Brandi Carlile. Participants are invited to come to the front of the sanctuary to give their take on the sermon topic. But one of the most unique aspects of Roots ...
GARDEN CITY, Kan. — This Sunday church potluck came with a side of community and church involvement. Nine cardboard backdrops were set up throughout the fellowship hall of Garden City First United Methodist Church on Aug. 24, each a display about how church members could volunteer inside and ...
SUPERIOR, Neb. — Brittany Kroeker remembers the only time she got a new dress for a school dance. “People spent too much money on their dresses,” the 20-year-old recalled. “I paid $200 for one dress all throughout high school. The rest of them were all handed down to me from my cousin, who’s 6 ...
It’s an order in The United Methodist Church for laity who want to serve with a greater engagement and mission. Leah Wandera uses health care as her mission field as a deaconess, as well as coordinating the ministry in Africa. Contributed photo There are only two of them in the Great Plains ...
Many pastors, Rev. Dr. Derek Weber says, were not equipped to preach a sermon in the 2020s. “Most of us were trained in seminary or course of study to write an essay, in a sense, that people would contemplate and consider,” says Weber, director of preaching ministries for Discipleship Ministries. “...
TONGANOXIE, Kan. – In welcoming the congregation of Tonganoxie United Methodist Church back for its “grand reopening,” Rev. Matthew Wilke frequently returned to a three-word litany. “We did it!” After two years of planning and seven months away from its home in downtown Tonganoxie, church ...
Numerous separate boards and committees in a church, Rev. Dr. Blake Bradford says, is an idea whose time has come and gone. “I was looking around and serving churches and noticing that the systems of governance that we inherited, for many, many congregations, it was no longer functioning as ...
At the Justice in Action Nehemiah Action Assembly in Lincoln in May, one agreed-upon goal could not happen unless volunteers got involved. That was the implementation of mediation between landlords and tenants to prevent evictions and promote paying rent. A pilot program, operated by the ...
SALINA — “I’m nearly 90 years old,” Rev. Marshall Stanton says, “and here’s my baby.” The blessed event is a 1-pound, 4 oz., 8 ½-by-11 inches book, “From a Precipice to a Grand Opera,” detailing his 18 years as president of Kansas Wesleyan University. “From a Precipice to Grand Opera: KWU During ...
PITTSBURG – The number of people served by Wesley House in the months of May and June was the largest in the ministry’s 44-year history. And July looks to follow suit. On a recent Wednesday, 38 households were at the Pittsburg First United Methodist Church ministry to receive food. “We were ...
OMAHA – A group of a dozen-plus retired men, looking for something productive to do with their spare time. A United Methodist Church that, after the loss of its daycare, has a sudden vacancy of space it doesn't want to leave abandoned. Combining those two forces, and within the space of 10 ...
Read this story in Korean. OLATHE – Members of Bonfire United Methodist Church celebrated their first anniversary July 6 with testimonials, a cake and a group photo. But instead of saying “cheese,” they said “kimchi,” a Korean dish made with fermented cabbage. Bonfire, one of three new churches ...
올레이스 – 7월 6일 본파이어 연합감리교회 교인들이 1주년을 기념하며 간증과 케이크, 단체 사진을 함께 했다. 하지만 그들은 "치즈"라고 말하는 대신, 발효된 양배추로 만든 한국 요리인 "김치"라고 말했다. 작년 Great Plains Conference에서 새로 세운 세 교회 중 하나인 Bonfire는 Johnson 카운티와 Kansas City 메트로에 있는 한국계 미국인들을 위해 설계되었다. "저는 이 모닥불 공동체가 숫자뿐만 아니라 관계에서도 성장하기를 희망하고 기도합니다"라고 Bonfire 설립자이자 목사인 김창현...
SALINA – Like many other churches in the country, the theme for its Vacation Bible School this summer is “Road Trip.” But Salina Trinity United Methodist Church is putting the pedal to the metal. The entire church is transformed, with cardboard fruit boxes turning into cars for the youngest ...
BALDWIN CITY, Kan. – United Methodist Youth Institute has been celebrating its 115th anniversary on social media by flashing back to Institute from years past, where hundreds of high school students would invade the campus of Baker University. While Institute hasn’t had that big of a population ...
TOPEKA – In the corner of the Topeka University United Methodist Church parking lot, a solo violin is playing. Several people are gathered under a tree on the other corner, avoiding the late Friday afternoon summer sun. Tables with vendors offering food, crafts and books are spread out over the ...
Playing the razzle-dazzle lawyer Billy Flynn in McPherson Community Theatre’s production of “Chicago” is a different world for Rev. Andrew Conard than his role as senior pastor of McPherson First UMC. “Some of what the words of what the prophet would say about truth at its essence, God working for ...
The 2025 edition of Micah Corps began its summer social justice journey by attending the Great Plains Conference session in Salina, June 5-7. On the third week of June, they will join a justice encounter trip to Alabama, seeing some of the sites that played a major role in civil rights history. They...
GRINNELL, Kan. – Growing up in Oklahoma, Bishop David Wilson knew all about the effect of tornadoes. “It still amazes me today, the power of these storms and what they can do,” the bishop said after looking at the damage of a May 18 tornado in the Gove County community the following Wednesday. “It...
Rev. Eduardo Bousson, director of schools, colleges and universities for General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, confers with facilitator Christ Johnson, principal at The Milkweed Group and retreat leader from the Center for Courage and Renewal. Photos by David Burke LINWOOD, Kan. — ...
The intertwining issues of homelessness and affordable housing were at the top of the agenda for three of the final Nehemiah Action Assemblies in the Great Plains Conference this month. During the assemblies, leaders of Direction Action and Resource Training (DART) organizations seek public ...
BALDWIN CITY, Kan. — Rev. Kevin Hopkins began his final sermon at Baker University chapel services by flashing back to his first sermon. As a 20-year-old four decades ago, he recalled, he was a youth worker at a Presbyterian Church in Lawrence and was asked to give a sermon. He put everything he ...
WICHITA – The new vision statement for The United Methodist Church, unveiled a week earlier by the denomination, dominated the discussion at the May 9-10 meeting of the Connecting Council. “We’ve been waiting for a vision statement for about 20 years now,” Scott Brewer, conference executive ...
The final blessing and transfer of membership for Bishop Richard Wilke from The United Methodist Church to the Church Triumphant is given by Pastor Beth Wilke. Photo by Todd Seifert WINFIELD, Kan. – The family of Bishop Richard Byrd Wilke painted a portrait of him as a loving, ...
LINCOLN — Leaders of Justice in Action, the Lincoln-Lancaster County-based justice group, got affirmative responses on their plans on eviction mediation and mental health navigation at its Nehemiah Action Assembly on May 1, but a more cautious response on its goal of adult pre-trial diversion. ...
OMAHA – Eight weeks after members of the General Commission on Religion & Race received word during a meeting that the federal government was no longer considering churches as sanctuaries for undocumented immigrants, GCORR’s inaugural immigration summit took place at the Omaha Hilton. “We need to ...
UPDATED -- April 24. The children of Bishop Richard Byrd Wilke have been fielding phone and text condolences and reading tributes on social media in the days after the death of their father on Easter morning. “We're blessed,” Rev. Dr. Paul Wilke said. “I mean, certainly there's grief, but it's a ...
Evangelism has always been hard to define, Rev. Michael Park says. And the last few years have only made it worse. “From my perspective, evangelism is reaching out to people and sharing the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ,” said Park, pastor at Chanute UMC. “Not only to the favored people but the ...
The campus of Kansas Wesleyan University in Salina was a longtime home for the former Kansas West annual conference sessions and will be hosting its first Great Plains Conference gathering June 5-7. “We’re proud of our 140-plus year relationship with The United Methodist Church and its predecessor ...